DIGIPUB Announces Independent Committee to Review Content

New Delhi: DIGIPUB, an association of independent digital news only websites, which includes NewsClick, has announced the formation of an independent content review committee, as part of its ‘commitment to professional media ethics.”

The independent committee comprises “individuals with an unimpeachable record and accomplishments in the fields of law, rights, gender and public administration,” a press statement issued by DIGIPUB said.

The member of the committee include retired Supreme Court judge Justice Madan B Lokur, Swarna Rajagopalan, founder and director for the Prajnya Trust, Bezwada Wilson, a founder of the Safai Karamchari Andolan, and Jawhar Sircar, former CEO of Prasar Bharati and former secretary in the Ministry of Culture.

According to the press statement, the committee represents an “additional, voluntary layer of transparency” on the part of its member publications.

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The founding members of the Digital News India Foundation or DIGIPUB, which aims to help ensure the creation of a “healthy and robust news ecosystem for the digital age,” include Newslaundry, The News Minute, NewsClick, Scroll, The Quint, The Wire, Article 14, Alt News, Boomlive, HW News and Cobrapost.

 “DIGIPUB is in the process of working out the modalities of the committee’s functioning and work, including an appropriate and practical referral system, and will make those public in due course,” the statement added.

The announcement of the independent content review committee comes in the backdrop of the new IT rules by the Central government, opposed by DIGIPUB, which feels that any attempt by the executive to regulate the content of news portals or publications would be to “strike not only at the constitutional scheme but at democracy itself”.

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Read the full press statement below:

DIGIPUB News India Foundation, as an association of responsible publishers of digital news, is delighted to announce the formation of an independent, high level ombudsman process/content review committee.

A few of our members have had independent internal mechanisms for review in place for some years, while others are in the process of formulating their own in-house procedures of varying formality. DIGIPUB and its members see these mechanisms as part of our commitment to professional media ethics, which includes providing our readers – who may have bona fide objections to particular published content – an opportunity to reach out to us.

The independent committee which DIGIPUB is announcing today represents an additional, voluntary layer of transparency on the part of our member publications.

The committee comprises:

Justice Madan B. Lokur (retd.), former judge of the Supreme Court of India Swarna Rajagopalan, founder and director for the Prajnya Trust Bezwada Wilson, a founder of the Safai Karamchari Andolan Jawhar Sircar, former CEO of Prasar Bharati and former Secretary, Ministry of Culture, Government of India

As is evident, the independent committee we have established consists of individuals with an unimpeachable record and accomplishments in the fields of law, rights, gender and public administration.

DIGIPUB is in the process of working out the modalities of the committee’s functioning and work, including an appropriate and practical referral system, and will make those public in due course.

DIGIPUB wishes to reiterate what it noted in its statement of February 26, 2021, issued in response to the new IT Rules, 2021, namely that any attempt by the executive to regulate the content of news portals or publications would be to strike not only at the constitutional scheme but at democracy itself.

Signed

Dhanya Rajendran, chairperson

Ritu Kapur and Abhinandan Sekhri, general secretaries